Article published in The New Zealand Herald on 6 August,
2008
As few as three out of 10 employees are truly engaged in their job, hugely
reducing their effectiveness at work, according to a leading workplace
analyst.
John Robertson, managing director of JRA (NZ) Ltd, said employee engagement
was a key factor in businesses extracting a good return from their investment in
capital and salaries.
Results from the 2007 unlimited/JRA Best Places to Work survey
showed that ‘engaged’ employees generated a return on assets 95 per cent higher
than their less engaged counterparts. They also generated sales per employee 68
per cent higher and were 29 per cent more likely to stay with their current
organization.
“The case for building a great workplace – one characterised by high levels
of employee engagement – is overwhelming,” Robertson said.
“Engaged employees work more productively, deliver higher levels of customer
service and improve the bottom-line performance of the organization that employs
them.”
But given the payback figures from having an engaged workforce, New Zealand
workers are not very tuned in to their jobs.
“How engaged are employees with their work? Not nearly as engaged as you
might hope,” Robertson said.
JRA research shows that the majority of New Zealand employees – six out of
every 10 – are what they describe as ‘the ambivalents’.
“These are your ‘swinging voters’ - the people who turn up for work, do an
okay job most of the time, but who aren’t really interested in looking for
better ways of doing things or going that extra mile to help out,” Robertson
said.
“Only as few as three of every 10 employees – your ‘engaged’ employees’ –
will be doing that.
“And your ‘ambivalents’ certainly won’t be going about saying ‘hey, this a
great place to work’ to their mates either.”
JRA is sponsoring the Great Places to Work pavilion at The New Zealand Herald
Your Career Expo, to be held at the ASB Showgrounds in Auckland on September
27-28. The expo will bring employers and potential employees together in the
biggest careers event in the country, with a two-day series of workshops,
presentations and exhibitions across four pavilions.
As part of the expo, JRA is conducting an online poll to test how engaged
people are at their work. JRA measures the engagement profile of a workforce by
analysing the way employees answer six key questions. Go to the online poll at
www.jra.co.nz/poll and complete a quick
six-question survey to contribute towards the engagement profile of New Zealand
employees in 2008.
The results will be included in workshops run by JRA over the two days of the
Expo and in lead-up articles published in the Herald over the next two
months.
See www.yourcareerexpo.co.nz.
